NETHERLANDS | Albert Heijn, the market-leading Dutch supermarket chain from Ahold Delhaize, has used vacuum-insulated reusable totes from va-Q-tec for home delivery.
The company va-Q-tec from Wuerzburg is an expert in sophisticated solutions and services for thermal energy efficiency and temperature-controlled supply chains. Using passive totes from va-Q-tec renders these home deliveries of fresh and frozen products from Albert Heijn more sustainable and cost-efficient.
The totes maintain constant temperatures during transport until delivery to the customer without needing an external energy supply. Actively operated refrigerated delivery vehicles and dry ice are avoided. Packaging waste and product losses are also reduced, particularly during summer.
“We are very happy to have gained such an important partner with Albert Heijn for our sustainable transport solutions,” said Marc Moelter, Head of Sales Food at va-Q-tec.
“The totes were specifically developed for transporting groceries. We share the vision of an energy-saving and environmentally friendly supply system as a company. Albert Heijn pioneered this vision and has set an example for sustainable grocery deliveries.”
Albert Heijn delivers several thousand groceries to private households in the Netherlands every week. The company has set clear sustainability targets for these deliveries.
Using va-Q-tec totes saves roughly 9,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions a year. This corresponds roughly to the climate-damaging CO2 emissions released by 6,000 diesel passenger cars yearly (consumption: 6 l/100 km; annual mileage: 10,000 km).
Overall, roughly 100,000 totes from va-Q-tec transport groceries from Albert Heijn. The totes are unloaded directly at the customer’s location, returned, and, after being cleaned at Albert Heijn, used again.
If the demand increases, additional transport totes can be manufactured on short notice in the plants in Würzburg and Kölleda (Thuringia) and then delivered to Albert Heijn in the Netherlands and other countries.
Special ice packs transport frozen food, particularly at a safe temperature. The so-called PCMs (Phase Change Materials) maintain a constant temperature in the vacuum-insulated totes for a long time. The ice packs are filled with liquids optimised for the necessary temperature ranges.
PCMs enable operating without dry ice, increasing safety while loading groceries and transporting them. Due to its extreme cold, dry ice can cause injuries to delivery personnel. In rare cases, the gaseous CO2 released by dry ice can lead to asphyxiation.
Using transport totes from va-Q-tec has enabled Albert Heijn to save 9,000 metric tons of dry ice annually, an essential step towards a sustainable grocery supply chain.
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